The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a connector part for an optical connector, in which a spherical lens is fixed to the front end of a tubular housing and an end part of a light-conducting fibre is fixed in the housing in such a way that a first end face of the fibre substantially coincides with the focal plane of the lens. The line which passes through the centre of the first end face plane and the centre of the lens is defined as the optical axis. The invention also relates to a device for implementing the method and to a connector part fabricated by the method.
A method of the aforesaid kind is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,511 (PHN 9163). In accordance with the known method the end part of the light-conducting fibre is fixed in a tube which carries at one end the spherical lens that rests against a seat in the housing and forms a ball hinge with it. Near the other end of the tube the housing contains set screws by which this end can be displaced until the optical axis is parallel with the geometrical axis of the housing. This adjustment is visually checked by observing images projected on a screen, and the result is therefore dependent on the observer.
By means of a mechanical operation a reference face is formed on the housing which is accurately perpendicular to the geometrical axis. When two connector parts made by this method are arranged with their reference faces one against the other, it may be expected that their optical axes will be at least parallel, although it is not certain that they will also lie in each others extension. Since the means of adjustment are built into the housing, the number of components required for a connector part is relatively large, which makes the construction difficult and the price relatively high. Moreover, the result achieved depends on the observer.